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Monday, February 6, 2012

So I finally have everything. The chain, sprockets, tire, and tube all showed up today while I was at work. My garage is starting to look like a work shop again, I have a 1976 Honda CB500T tore apart on one side and now I have the KLR tore apart again on the other side.

The Honda is getting a new head gasket and I accidentally bought a gasket kit for it on ebay from Japan. I don't have a problem with it being from ebay or from Japan but the time it takes to get from Japan is insane. I am looking at 12 to 20 days to get it. So I ordered just the head gasket from a guy in Iowa that I am hoping to see this weekend and then I can at least get the head put back on and the engine back in the frame. Once the gasket kit from Japan arrives I can put the rest back together. I'm also waiting for a cam chain master link for it and a fancy new universal chain tool that will work on all chains. The last chain tool I had was for bicycles and I have no idea where it is but I am willing to bet that it would work great on a cam chain. So I am hoping that I will be able to have the bike put back together most the way next weekend. Motorcycle show might get in the way a bit.

I got pretty far on the KLR. Rear wheel is off and the new rear sprocket is on. I got the old chain cut off. Then I ran into an issue that I didn't think about beforehand. Per the service manual "to get the front sprocket off put the motorcycle in gear with the rear wheel and loosen the lock nut". Great instructions if I would have read them before pulling the rear wheel off. So my new plan is I have placed a socket wrench on the rotor bolt and rest the wrench handle on the crash bar. Hopefully that will get it off. I also didn't have the proper socket wrench and it is too tight to get at with a open end or crescent wrench so I had to borrow one. Note to self, buy a 27mm socket. I should have the whole mess finished tomorrow night.